SIXWAYS star Chris Pennell has said he hopes his experiences with England in the summer will be enough to keep him in the international fold.
Head coach Stuart Lancaster is expected to announce his squad next week for the autumn internationals, which will see England take on New Zealand, South Africa, Samoa and Australia.
The 27-year-old, who made his international debut against the All Blacks in June, has played just once this season after undergoing surgery on his groin.
But the full back, who is due to return to action within the next few weeks, said he has not given up hope on being included once again as the build-up to next year’s Rugby World Cup gathers pace.
“To get myself involved this autumn I expect I need to be playing and playing well, so it is up to the coaches whether I gave a good enough account in the summer for them to consider me,” he said.
“Ultimately to get into that World Cup squad I need to make sure I am involved with the England squad as much as possible over the next ten months.
“Otherwise, if I am not there now, then it is going to be more and more difficult and that’s the challenge I am facing.”
Although he said it had been frustrating watching from the sidelines, Pennell admitted the rest could help him in the long run.
“I am in the hands of the medics at the moment, so it is up to them as to how they grade me back in, but hopefully it won’t be too long,” he said.
“I am desperate to get back out there and play, but I guess there are always positives you can take from situations and one of them may be that it will give my body a little bit longer to recover and get over last season.
“I have obviously played a lot of rugby over the last few seasons so it is not the worst thing in the world for me, but I am getting more and more frustrated watching to be honest.”